Prague

After a very sombre visit to Auschwitz, we travelled onwards to Prague – the aptly-named ‘City of a Hundred Spires’.

There is something about Prague that is special – the streets are lined with quaint yet majestic buildings. Like a lot of European cities, it feels as though you have stepped straight onto the pages of a fairytale.

We started off our day of exploration with a delicious experience; pastries. Trdelnik (don’t ask me how to pronounce it), is one of the most popular pastries you can try in Prague.

The woman making them rolled out the dough and then wrapped it around a stick. She sprinkled the dough with sugar and spices and set it over the flames to cook. When it was a golden colour, she took the trdelnik off the flames and filled it with nutella.

Yes, it was as delicious as it sounds, and yes, you definitely have to try one if you visit Prague.

With happy (stuffed) bellies, we decided it was time to make up for the food damage by walking all over Prague. We headed over towards Charles Bridge, one of the most popular tourist locations in the city.

The bridge is a 500m walk and is lined with baroque statues. There are always heaps of people crossing over the bridge – so beware of pickpockets.

Once we were over the bridge, we continued walking down the streets of Prague, admiring the intricately designed buildings and spires that were looming above us.

We were on our way to find the John Lennon wall. This was once a normal wall, until the 1980s when it became a point of political focus for the youth of Prague. After John Lennon was murdered, he became a pacifist hero, and the wall was painted with his face, Beatles lyrics, and political comments.

The Secret Police continually attempted to whitewash the wall, but the graffiti kept showing up. Unfortunately these days, the wall is covered with crappy, inconsequential tourist graffiti (guys, just stop!) – but you can still see Lennon’s eyes. There was also a really cool vibe around the wall, with a busker singing Beatles songs on his guitar.

After hanging out around the wall and enjoying the music for awhile, we decided to head back into the city centre and take a look at the famous Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square.

The Astronomical Clock has been one of Prague’s greatest treasures for over 600 years. The clock visualises time in a way that is different to everything else in the world. From looking at the clock you can tell what day it is, its position in the week, month, and year. The clock also tracks Central European, Babylonian and Sidereal time, as well as the movements of the sun and the moon, and which zodiac sign currently reigns. It’s pretty awesome, but don’t ask me how to read the clock face.

After we watched the procession of apostle statues looking out from the windows above the clock, we decided to climb the steps of Old Town Hall to get a better view of the city.

There is so much to see and do in Prague, and it is a gorgeous city abundant in incredible architecture and beautiful vistas. I think I’ve said this in every post, but I wish we’d had more time here to explore.